Winning runs deep in the Webster family

For the Webster family, winning seems to come naturally.
McKade and Makenna Webster grew up together in St. Louis, Missouri. McKade, 21, is about 20 months older than his 20-year-old younger sister. The two spent a ton of time together throughout their childhood and a lot of that time was spent doing one thing - playing hockey.

"I'm small so I try to use my size to my advantage," Makenna said when asked to describe her and her brother's style of play. "I'm fast and skilled, kind of like a skilled grinder. I try to get to pucks first and just try to outwork everyone on the ice. I would say I'm a small, skilled playmaker that's kind of like a skilled grinder.
"McKade, he's always been super skilled. I would say he's a very unselfish, skilled player. He always knows where to be and he has great vision.
"Before he has the puck, he knows what he's going to do with it. He's also just a great team player. When he's given a role, he does that to his best of his ability."
Between the two of them, McKade and Makenna have won two NCAA national championships and three international medals with two golds and one silver.
McKade was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 7th round (213th overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft. He is entering his third season at University of Denver in 2022-23 after winning the 2022 National Championship last season.

Makenna spent the last two years playing ice hockey at University of Wisconsin and won a national championship of her own in 2021. She is also entering her third season of college hockey, but will play both field and ice hockey at Ohio State University this year after entering the transfer portal in April.
"They spent tons of time together," said Dave Webster as he reminisced on the early years of his two children. "Along the way, McKade would help Makenna with some things on the ice. I would say that their relationship was probably much better than most siblings."
In the early 2000's in St. Louis, Makenna's early experience on the ice came as a figure skater, but that didn't last long once she started watching her brother play hockey. While other siblings of the players on the ice were running around the rink, Makenna spent a lot of time with her nose against the glass, watching her brother fly around the ice.
"She started out as a figure skater, but she was definitely a bit of a tomboy," McKade explained with a laugh. "We used to joke that she didn't want to wear dresses anymore, so she made the switch over to hockey.
"She started playing and it was just awesome. I had someone to train with. I was pushing her. She was pushing me. We really fed off each other. It was great."
Whether it was skating drills, off-ice workouts, or just passing a puck back and forth, the two were consistently pushing each other to be better. Reminiscing on the early days of her hockey career, Makenna remembers things just as McKade does. Seeing her brother on the ice is what inspired her to make the switch from figure skates to hockey skates.
"He was the reason that I wanted to play," Makenna remembered. "I can remember going to his games, watching him, and thinking, 'I want to do this. I want to do like my brother.'
"Then I started playing and we would get on the ice together, whether it was with skating coaches, skills coaches, or at summer camps. We've really spent a lot of time on the ice together in the summers as we've gotten older.
"We were just really close growing up. It was nice. He's always been my role model and I've always looked up to him. If I ever need anything in hockey, I always go to him."
While Makenna looked up to McKade, she probably had some people looking up to her as well. She undoubtedly does now. But from a young age, Makenna was a leader.
"I'll never forget this story," Dave said. "Makenna was 10 years old and she asked her coach, 'Hey coach, who on the team hasn't scored a goal yet? I want you to put me on a line with them so I can get them a goal.'
"She wanted to play on that line for the whole season, not just for that one game. That's the kind of person that that she is.

"She's just such a wonderful, big-hearted kid and probably the most unselfish athlete I've ever seen."
As McKade and Makenna got older and hockey continued to become more competitive, the siblings both earned spots at the well-renowned Minnesota boarding school, Shattuck-Saint Mary's.
Some incredible hockey players on both the male and female side have played at Shattuck, including Brianna Decker, Sidney Crosby, Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux, Nathan MacKinnon, Amanda Kessel, Jonathan Toews, Zach Parise, and many more, including the Lightning's 2022 first-round pick, Isaac Howard.
McKade and Makenna both made their way up to Faribault, Minnesota and began their time at Shattuck in 2015.
Despite being just 13 years old, Makenna started with the 16U team. She skated in 62 games that season, scoring 31 goals and adding 30 assists for 61 points, the third-most among all skaters on the team. Just eight points shy of the team lead, Makenna was two years younger than both players who finished with more points.
McKade, who was 15 when his season started, played in 52 games with the 18U AA team that year. He led the team with 60 points and 29 goals, while his 31 assists ranked second among all skaters.
McKade and Makenna's strong relationship from their years in St. Louis carried over to Minnesota, where they were able to continue supporting one another. If Makenna was playing, McKade was able to watch and back his sister. If McKade had a game, Makenna was cheering him on.
"They got a chance to see each other play quite a bit," Dave explained. "A lot of these schools, it's not unusual for the girls to support the boys' teams, but sometimes it's a little unusual for the boys to support the girls.
"That's never the case at Shattuck. So many of the boys will show up and watch the girls play. There's just a ton of support from both sides, so it's great to see. Those were some magical years."
Entering year two at Shattuck, McKade and Makenna were set to spend even more time together when their parents purchased a home in Minnesota.
They still own the house today, which is situated right across the street from the school's rink. The Webster house was a popular one on the weekends, with Dave sometimes cooking morning breakfast for 10 or more hungry hockey players.
Entering her second year at 14 years old, Makenna skated another season with the 16U team and continued to establish herself as one of the best players in the country, leading her team in goals, assists, and points. She skated in 60 games that season and recorded a dominant 103 points with 47 goals and 56 assists.

McKade made the jump from AA to AAA in his second year and had another strong performance with 66 points in 55 games. His 28 goals were tied for the second-most on the team, while his 38 assists were tied for the team lead.
The Websters certainly left their mark on Shattuck-St. Mary's with both players finishing their careers with greater than a point-per-game average. In total, Makenna scored 160 goals and picked up 218 assists for 378 points in 261 career games at Shattuck.
"I got to play with so many of the best players in the country," said Makenna. "I've always said it, but I really think Shattuck made me the player I am today."
During his two seasons at Shattuck, McKade skated in 107 games and posted 126 points with 57 goals and 69 assists.
"It was an awesome two years," said McKade. "You get elite hockey and school mingled together, so it was a great experience.
"I was able to watch Makenna play quite a bit and then I'd obviously see her around the house all the time too when we got back from school or practice. I have a lot of good memories from my time there."
Following his second year in Minnesota, McKade made his way to the United States Hockey League and played with the Green Bay Gamblers, who drafted him in the 10th round (159th overall) of the 2016 USHL Draft.
In his first year with the Gamblers, he scored 11 goals and picked up 19 assists to finish the season with 30 points, the fifth-most on the team. After suffering a wrist injury at the start of the following season, he was forced to have surgery and finished the year with just six games played.
As the 2019 NHL Draft approached, McKade didn't think there was much of a chance that he'd be drafted at all. In fact, he wasn't even watching the draft when his name flashed across the screen in the seventh round.
"There was literally zero anticipation that he was going to get drafted," Dave explained. "Believe it or not, McKade wasn't even at our house. He had spent the night at a friend's house and was hanging out over there."
After so much of her hockey journey was spent alongside her brother, it almost felt right that Makenna was the one to find out that McKade had been selected by the Bolts. It was the final round of the day and the fifth to last selection of the draft when a shriek sent a shock through the Webster's home.

"I can remember Makenna walked into another room and all of a sudden I just hear her screaming," Dave said. "I was in the other room watching something else with my wife. We were just like, 'What the hell is going on?'
"It was a pretty odd experience on a day where there was just no expectation. But, man, it turned out to be really fun night for everybody. It was awesome."
A few months later, McKade returned to Green Bay and was named captain of the team. He went on to record nearly a point per game with 23 points (7G, 16A) in 24 contests in his final year in the USHL. In 2020, he would head to Colorado and begin his collegiate career at University of Denver.
While McKade was working his way towards pro hockey, Makenna was building a legacy of her own. She would also begin her collegiate career in 2020 with University of Wisconsin, but before that, Makenna was making her name known throughout the world of women's hockey.
Between 2018 and 2020, Makenna skated with Team USA at the IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship on three separate occasions, winning two gold medals and one silver medal. She was just 15 years old when she played with the U.S. in 2018, yet she still led the team in both points (9) and assists (7) en route to the first gold medal of her career. The nine points were tied for the second-most among all skaters in the tournament.
When the U.S. took home silver in 2019, she led the team in scoring again with six points (3G, 3A) in five games. The six points were tied for the second-most among all skaters in the tournament.
Taking home her second gold medal in 2020, Makenna recorded two assists in what would be her final Under-18 World Championship.
From there, she was off to Madison to begin her college hockey journey. It was Makenna that would take home the first of two national championships between the Webster siblings and she did it in her freshman year.
Makenna played in 21 games in her first season with the Badgers and ranked seventh on the team in scoring with 13 points while her eight goals were tied for fourth.
In the semifinal round of the 2021 Frozen Four, the Badgers took down the Ohio State Buckeyes with Makenna scoring the game-opening goal and adding an assist for a two-point game. In the championship game just two days later, she scored the game-opening goal again with 8:59 remaining in the third period. The game went would eventually make its way to overtime before Wisconsin took down Northeastern, 2-1.
As a freshman, Makenna was named most valuable player of the Frozen Four.
"I've always said she's the best athlete in the family," McKade said. "She's just a rockstar.

"There are so many different words I could use to describe Makenna. She's awesome. She's unbelievable. She's definitely a better player than I am.
"I mean, like I said before, she's just a rockstar. That's probably the best way to describe her."
One year later, it was McKade's turn to take home a national championship. Entering the semifinals of the 2022 Frozen Four, Denver would have to go through the number one seed in University of Michigan, a team that was pegged by many to win the title from the start of the season.
Michigan had one of the most talented rosters in the history of college hockey. Heading into the season, the Wolverines had 13 NHL draft picks on their roster, including an NCAA-record seven first-round selections. Four of those seven first-round picks were selected in the first five picks of the 2021 NHL Draft.
Denver hopped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and never looked back, taking down the Michigan powerhouse, 3-2, and outshooting the Wolverines, 33-21.
Riding the confidence from that win, the Pioneers went into the championship game against Minnesota State University and dominated with a convincing 5-1 win to take home the 2022 National Championship.
"It was awesome," said McKade. "It was an unbelievable experience with a really special group.
"It's kind of crazy. You don't see that very often, a brother and sister winning a national championship. It's super cool and just something that I'm really proud of, both for her and myself."
While the celebrations were a blast for the Webster family, they were short-lived before both McKade and Makenna were back to work on the ice. After skating at Tampa Bay's Development Camp earlier this month, McKade will head back to DU to continue his development in pursuit of back-to-back national championships.
"Things are looking good," he said. "I don't think there will be much of a drop off from last year. Looking ahead, I'm just excited to continue our process and get everyone back together. It should be another special group."
Makenna, on the other hand, will start her first year at Ohio State, who also took home a national championship title last season. She'll look to help the Buckeyes go back-to-back, but also has more international medals on her mind.
"I have three more years of college, so hopefully I'm able to win another national championship," she explained. "After that, my goal is to be an Olympian, definitely. Hopefully the women's pro leagues keep getting better and keep advancing, but I think my biggest goal right now is to keep doing everything I can to be an Olympian in the future."
With everything McKade and Makenna have achieved already, there's one word that resonates throughout the Webster family - proud.

McKade is proud of Makenna. Makenna is proud of McKade. Dave is proud of both of them, and not just on the ice.
"What they've been able to accomplish on the ice is pretty amazing," Dave said. "But I'm dead honest about this. I'm really more proud of what kind of people they are versus how good they are as athletes.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely proud of what they've done athletically. They are both just really, really hard workers. No one is going to outwork those kids.
"So, it's certainly a ton of fun for me to watch their athletic careers, but what really warms my heart is just the type of people they are. They're really good people. I couldn't be more proud."
In talking to McKade and Makenna, it's easy to sense the strong bond between the brother and sister. Both phenomenal athletes, neither will talk about themselves first.
"I could not be more proud of him," said Makenna. "Not only myself, but a lot of people in St. Louis look up to him. Not many players have been drafted out of St. Louis.
"A lot of people don't see what happens behind the scenes and the amount of work that he's put in. I'm just so proud to call him my brother and I'm really excited to see all the things he does in the future."
McKade will forever say his sister is the best athlete in the family. As he continues to push towards his ultimate dream of playing in the NHL, he will always keep an eye on Makenna and her accomplishments.
"I'm so proud of her," McKade said. "I hope she learned a couple things from me along the way, but it's really easy for me to say she's the best hockey player in the family.
"We're both so busy and I wish we could see each other more, but that's how it goes with the schedules we both have. I'm just super excited for her to be at Ohio State and continue everything she's doing with Team USA.
"We keep in touch all the time and we're still super close. We always will be. I just can't say enough good things about her and how proud I am to call her my sister."
Still in their early 20s, there's a ton of hockey on the horizon for McKade and Makenna. Whether it's playing for Team USA at the Olympics or making an NHL debut with the Lightning at AMALIE Arena, they both have bright futures ahead of them. For now, it starts with another season of college hockey. After that, there's still plenty in store for the Websters.
"It's a long, long journey," said Dave. "But no matter where that journey takes them, I know they'll be great. I'm really, really blessed to have them as my kids."